Better than Trick or Treating

Hi, everyone! 

Regardless of how hard we worked this week, and how many people we've seen and how many lessons we've had, we only had one member present. 

This week was full of interesting things! 

Monday: So like I mentioned in the last blog post, I got hit in the eye with a Tennis ball while trying to tighten up my tennis skills. Sorry to say, my eye hurt for the rest of the week. 

Tues: We had a member come out with us to see Cynthia and the lesson went well. My companion and I can tell that the more we meet with her, the more hope she has, and the more she has been reading the Book of Mormon. I am so excited for the day she comes back to church! It's been over 20 years. 

Wed:

We had a lesson in a Member's home this week, which is one of the main focuses for our zone. We had Lori, a less-active, in Sister Davis' home and the lesson went pretty well. We went over Alma 7, verses 11-14 and mentioned the power of the Atonement. A lot of great things were shared; Sister Davis had a guitar and I had the opportunity to play it for a couple minutes. It had been a while since I last played.

Later that evening I had the opportunity to submit 2 names from doing Family History. I haven't done family history before, and I submitted Thomas Bagley's name (M7TD-788) to [be connected] to Vivian Elzora Bagley in marriage. I believe Thomas was from the time of the 1600s. Another name was John Baguley (LH3C-9SF), and he lived from July 18 1585 to Jan 15 1642, and he had some temple work that needed to be completed. I truly felt the spirit of Elijah when I went on familyhistory.org to work on family names. 

During this week, I made dairy-free/gluten-free pumpkin -cinnamon bagels, and I made some regular bagels for my companion as well. I'm glad I was able to make something she preferred. 

I also made my first soup yesterday and it turned out pretty good. 

On Thursday, we had Sister Bloomfield come out with us to go see some people. We weren't able to find a lot of people to teach, but we kept trying. She then dropped us off for our Dinner Appointment with the Lewis family. We taught them about the 10 commandments, using hand signals. After that, we walked home and we walked in the dark for at least an hour. It was good time for my companion and I to get to know each other a little better and to share memories of our past Family Halloween experiences. 

on Friday, we had District Meeting. After that, an elder brought out a spice cake to share. Another elder brought a cookie pie from the store. 

After that, we helped Sister Matthews set up for the Chili cook off that was going to happen later in the evening. We helped set up chairs and rearranged some things in the room after the young-women had tried setting things up. 

After that, though, there were a few experiences that really stood out to me and I cannot believe that it had happened. Sister Putnam and I went to go see sky, a 13 year old who we have been trying to get a hold of for weeks. After we knocked and waited, we were just about to leave when a middle-aged man with dark-brown eyes from next door came out eating a sandwich. We asked if he knew Sky and he said he knew of them and the conversation lead to who we were as missionaries. He asked us what he believed, and immediately he mentioned how he was Pentecostal, and he tried telling us what we believed. He told us about how he has been reading this book that has 'false teachings' from every religion. One of the things he said was, "Hold on, let me get [the book I'm talking about]". My companion and I looked at each other. He was going to try and bash us. When he came out, he opened to the Mormon section of his book and mentioned some false beliefs and how we believed certain things; he told us we weren't Christian because we didn't believe in the Triad (we believe in the Godhead, which is mentioned all throughout the King James Version of the Bible, which means that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three, separate and distinct beings); he said more things that were completely out of an argumentative tone; because we called God 'Heavenly Father' instead of the German name for God (I don't remember what it is right now), and how we believed Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ  were separate beings has us to be believing in multiple Gods. Well, that's false, just like his whole book. We told him that the purpose of our visits is not to Bible Bash. He told us we were blind and how we needed to do more research on our own religion before we went and taught it to people. Well, my companion and I did do our research. When we told him that he can come to know for himself if what we have been teaching him, is true, through prayer and how Heavenly Father will give him the answer. He told us that he knew without a doubt that he could call down power from God to tell him these things just like the prophets of hold and he will know the answer immediately. Well, I'm glad he has that great of faith, and I hope he does receive an answer. He asked if we could come back and discuss more about our message and Sister Putnam said, "Actually, no" and told him that we weren't here to argue. When she went to shake his hand goodbye, he refused to shake her hand. Soon after, he went back inside. 

After that, we went to see Avril, an investigator who set up an appointment with us. She wasn't home for the second time, and later on in the week she told us where she had gone to. Her power was turned off and she was staying at her mother's home. 

Around 6:00 was the 'Trunk or Treat'. Sister Putnam was a chili tester, along with the other missionaries.  I couldn't taste it, because it had meat in it. In the end, Sister Manchester won first place, and the Bishop won 3rd. The Bishop told us, "...but the bishop is always supposed to win! ...[T]hat competition was rigged!" It was so funny. 

Later on, the kids went around the parking lot in their costumes and did some 'trunk-or-treating.' It was so cute to see all the costumes and decorated trunks. 

On Saturday, we went to see some potentials and investigators and we didn't have much luck. We had walk-and-talk and we walked around for an hour or two and it was pretty much desolate. When we went to walk home, I saw a couple on the sidewalk, in black. I could barely make what was going on. By the time we walked up to them, we introduced ourselves to this young man (24) and this young woman (25); they were a very attractive couple. She was crying and he was very upset. He tried to shoo us away as he said, "If you don't mind, I need to talk to this girl... who is the love of my life... but I don't deserve her and she can do better than me..." and he told us how religion will not help at all and how he was a realist and saw things as they are. He also mentioned how this town was full of negativity and no one can make a living out of the low-end jobs here. He told us how he was going to start his life over by leaving everything behind, including his girlfriend. Her family drove by and he pointed that out to his girlfriend. She needed to get ready for work and so they walked off. They broke up. She walked  off a ways, and she started to cry again with her back toward us. "Let's go talk to her," Sister Putnam said. When we went to see her, she said that she was sorry for the rudeness of her boyfriend and she said she was sorry for crying. We told her that we completely understand. She told us that she would call us after work. 

Sometime afterwards, we saw a black guy with a santa hat come out of his car. We helped him with his groceries and we scheduled a return appointment. 

Later that evening, we went out with a sister in our ward and we went to go find someone who lived in one of the new complexes. 

-The first door had a colorful Easter wreath and the lady was not interested.

-The second door had a Halloween Wreath and the lady was very bubbly, and friendly. She told us she was Catholic and she lived with her boyfriend. She told us to go check for the person in the next doors, since she just moved here. 

- The next door had a burlap wreath, and there was no answer.

-The next door had a tall man who was in his late 20s, with a cap on, and he was on the phone. He pointed to his iphone, and then he shut the door. It was so brief. I started laughing.

"This is better than Trick-or-Treating!" I said. 

We went to the apartments across the street and we knocked on the first door. There was no answer. We joked around as we thought about finding a 'Johnson' around here (even though that was not who we were looking for). 

-The Next door was a short man, who looked like he was in his early 30s. He was the manager of Applebees and told us he worked 50-60 hours a week. He wasn't opposed to our message but we could stop by when he had time. We asked for his last name, and it was 'Johnson.' My companion and I, and the sister, all smiled wide because of the previous thought we had moments ago. 

I love going door to door, especially with young people. Everyone is so different from one another. 

On Sunday, I had to teach Gospel Principles class by myself and I can't believe how well it went. I prepared just the night before because of the limited time I had. My companion had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting about how members need to be working with the members. It seems like working with the missionaries is not a priority. A lot of them expect the missionaries to do all the work and that they will hopefully bring more to the church. BUT - it is the member's responsibility to help find people for missionaries to teach. When I am off my mission, I plan to go out with the missionaries, and help them find people to teach. 

Well, that is all I can say for now. Every day I am so grateful I have this opportunity to serve and before I came out, I had no idea how missionary life was. It is one of the hardest, most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. I think the only thing that I can think of that prepares anyone for a mission is the mission itself, no matter how many times one can read the scriptures or Preach My Gospel, or even going out with the missionaries. 

Talk to you all soon,

Sister Marshall 

 

More photos

Photos

During Exchanges 

My Grandpa's package came on my 6th month mark 

From Sister Szabo during exchanges; I found it in my bed and I didn't know she wrote this until 2 days later 

Recorder, Pumpkin, 6 months, Walk-and-Talk, God and Jesus

Highlights of my week: 

We had a great week; we had a lot of teaching opportunities and there was a lot of variety with the activities that went on. It was also a stressful week, especially by the time the week was coming to a close with Walk-and-talk. 

-I bought a new recorder since my last one broke ; sadly, it only records in .mp3 and Joseph's recorder records in .wav and so I cannot listen to his recordings on my recorder. 

+ I went to staples and it said it was $42.00 after being $50.00; when I went to checkout, it was about $26.00 and it was marked down even more. I thought that was such a HUGE blessing! 

-We got to go with a member to see all of her neighbors and introduce the gospel to them, even though only one seemed half-interested.

+What happened was pretty interesting if you ask me. What was even stranger was that this member took over with the introduction, and she pretty much took over with going over what my companion and I had taught Jaquie and her husband. A LOT of tangents and a lot of members seem to do this to us, for some reason over here in the south. It is very frustrating, especially if the missionaries cannot teach. Almost with every member we bring, they take over the conversation and act as if it were a 'long-time-no-see' get together and they push the missionaries off to the side. The hardest part is not saying anything and not interfering with their conversation. When my companion and I  try to bring back the  conversation, the member(s) steer it back to the off-topic conversation. 

-I made pumpkin bread french toast (all from scratch) And it was good

+ Everything I need to make has to be gluten-free, and dairy-free; so, to make this, it took awhile. But, At least I had fresh baked bread, and it was chemical-free.

-I made pumpkin pie oatmeal 

+ I have my own recipe on this and it sure tasted good. 

- A member took us out to Olive Garden and I had their gluten-free pasta dish with tomato sauce and vegetables 

- I hit my 6 year mark on the 16th of Oct; I am 1/3 done with my mission

- I received my grandpa's package and I also received letters from Sister Mahler and Sister Bowen, my previous companions 

-We had walk-and-talk and multiple people told us that we needed to do more research on our own religion

+We did our walk-and-talk from 1 pm - 4 pm by the bayside in Beaufort on Saturday. It was a great experience to talk to those visiting, and those local, as well. 

+ We encountered a college couple who were going to plan their wedding, and the gal had the binder in her hand. We introduced ourselves and we asked what they knew about our the LDS faith. The gal told us that the reason why we are not Christian was because we do not believe that Jesus is God, and that we don't believe in the Trinity. The man said that "Jesus is the Son of God" and we pointed out to him what he just said; He mentioned Jesus-is-the-son-of-God and we told him that we believe they are two distinct beings; He mentioned that Jesus was praying inside himself, even though he was praying to the Father. The gal said that we go against the Atonement because she thought that we believe that Jesus was born a man, denying all Godliness, but, that is incorrect. She asked us if we have done any research on our own faith, and we told her we did; I, personally, did a lot of research on my faith; we are also professionally trained as missionaries before we come out on the field, and we have been taught growing up about our faith. This couple said they do not believe in working for our salvation, and we brought up the 3 degrees and how it is mentioned in the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 15:40-43 about the different degrees of glory. 

+The most memorable experience I've had with 'Bible Bashing' was one of the worst I've been through, so far.  We are taught not to bash, and so my companion and I was trying not to bash but to bring up doctrine truths.  We walked up to this couple and we asked what they have heard about our religion; they mentioned that they too believed in the trinity and they did not believe in working for our salvation, and that if we just accept Christ into our hearts, then we are saved, which is completely contrary to the LDS faith. They also said that we wouldn't be judged by our works, but we are. It mentions this in Revelation 20:12-13 (KJV), and it is mentioned in the Bible that we will be judged by our works. Also, with Faith, it mentions in James 2:17-18 (KJV) that faith without works is dead. Even though, as missionaries we primarily teach out of the Book of Mormon, there are a lot of things mentioned in the Bible that come in harmony with the Book of Mormon. Pretty much everything does, if one truly studies them both. Anyways, though, the man started to talk about Joseph Smith, and then he brought up some horrible lies about our religion. He told us, "Do you know much about your religion? It's history!" And he asked if there was any proof that Joseph Smith did restore this church, and as missionaries, I personally felt like there was proof standing right in front of him, discussing with him about the church. The more he kept telling lies, my companion and I wanted to cry. It was so strange when he mentioned, "..but you both are so beautiful and young..." and he then was trying to act all friendly with us.  It came to the point where there wasn't a good spirit  and it became spiritually draining to talk to them and we walked off, and bid them a good day.  

-Sunday - We had one investigator show up to Sunday, out of all the Sundays since I've been in Morehead 

-A child got baptized on Sun and got confirmed right after

+ I had never heard of a Sunday Baptism before 

-I got hit in the eye by a fast tennis ball and it really hurt today.

+ I don't want to play tennis for a long time. I am a ball magnet. (I miss my video games and I wish I could play Halo but I can't until Next October. Ha. ) 

I know this church is true, with all of my heart. I know that Joseph Smith was a righteous man, and I know that he risked his life to defend a book which he translated from reformed Egyptian with the power of God. I know that we will be judged according to how we spent our time on earth to prepare to meet God, which is the very reason why we are on this earth in the first place. I know that without the Atonement, when Jesus died for all of our sins when he was on the cross, we would not be able to repent, to become better, and to receive forgiveness. I know that we would not be able to obtain eternal life (living in the presence of Heavenly Father) without the gate of Baptism, when it is done with the proper authority to act in God's name, which is called the Priesthood. I know that my Savior lives, and he is everyone's savior, regardless if people 'accept Him as their Savior' or not. The fact that he is our Savior does not change based on personal acceptance. I know that we are all saved, regardless; that is given to everyone. I love this church, I love everyone, regardless if we live in a world of imperfect people. Imperfect people are all God has to work with and we all must accept each other's differences and work with that. 

God loves each of us, and knows us personally. He is our Heavenly Father. He always keeps his promises.

I miss you all. 

-Sister Marshall 

Bikes, Craziness, Peace, Pumpkins

Well, today was a great biking week! We actually didn't have to bike a whole lot because we didn't have a lot of appointments. Many cancelled and some were so far out to where a member had to pick us up and take us. 

We were on our bikes for an appointment on Monday evening and along the way we found a 13-year-old girl who was walking her dog; we got to introduce the gospel to her and she said we could come and see her family on Saturday. By the time it was Saturday, we visited her place with a member, and no one was home. 

We had quite a few dinner appointments; I really appreciate the members who take time out of their day to prepare a meal. 

Trish, one of our appointments, cancelled and she told us that she needed to because of something to do with her son. While my companion and I were on bikes, we saw her and her husband, taking a stroll down the street. My companion made a comment about being a flake or something. It was funny. 

This whole week was pretty crazy, especially when I had to drop off my prescription at Walgreens. Since my dad switched insurances on me recently, I had to get a pre-authorization for my medication through my new insurance. They sent the pre-authorization on Monday to my Doctor's in my last area. Almost everyday I called to see if they received it. They did not submit the pre-authorization until Friday, and it had been sitting there in the office until they finally took the time to look at it. I had taken my last medication Friday morning, and they were certainly cutting it close. I was stressed all week. My companion and I had to bike to the church to print out a coupon for my medication, and then bike to Wal-greens on HWY 70. That was pretty scary. Everything got taken care of. I hope I never have to go through that waiting process again. 

We had a lesson with Connie, who lives in the projects in town. We tried to teach her about the Priesthood and we tried to explain the restoration in the simplest of terms as we could, and she still was not understanding. At the time she was going through a lot, and she wasn't receptive during that time. 

After I baked some pumpkin granola, I thought about a cool analogy during my personal study while the smell lingered throughout the house. 

"Sometimes we do not appreciate what the church offers as much as we should. I can compare being brought up in the church to an aroma in a bakery. At first, we notice the aroma; after we dwell in the area for a long time, we do not recognize the small and we may forget about it. It isn't until we step outside do we recognize that we have left the aroma, and have stepped into a new one. We then may walk back into the building to smell that aroma again." 

On Sunday, Eunice, our recent convert as of May, gave a wonderful testimony during fast and testimony meeting. It was so powerful and I realized that I haven't appreciated the gospel as much as I thought I did. I was born into the church and I didn't realize how great the gospel truly was until I began to apply the principles more fully in my life. I also realized it more as I helped teach people who had never knew anything about the church. Watching their eyes light up and recognizing the change has truly opened my perspective on the gospel, the prophets, and the plan of salvation more than I could have imagined. 

I am about to go onto my 6th month as a missionary. It is going by so fast! I know a lot of people may look at me and think that I am young (well, yeah, I'm 22 years old, going on 23,) and many do not want to listen to the things that my companion and I have to say. But, I don't care. A lot of people in their early 20s would not spend their time serving a mission; a lot of youth today don't even know God personally, and many do not pray to talk with Heavenly Father. It is sad to see, but luckily the missionaries can help people gain that personal connection with Him.  We are His children (Deuteronomy 14:1, Jeremiah 1:5, Bible, KJV), and he wants to have communication with us. 

My teaching is improving and I am so glad that it is. I love it when I figure out how to teach a principle with an even stronger and powerful method than what I had been doing previously.  

During my personal studies this morning, I remembered a good way on how to teach 'Your life on earth' as a lesson by itself, from the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet. It's good to teach it with Alma 34:32-34 and also to bring up the "Your Four Minutes" talk from the May 2014 Ensign. I like to share the paragraphs from 'Now, consider how your pathway to eternal life is similar to these athletes' 'four-minute performance'" and share that passage until it ends with, "In a sense, your four minutes have already begun. The clock is ticking', on page 84 in the Ensign. It sends a powerful message and has people contemplate on their 'four minutes' here on earth.  

...

Things interesting in the south: 

There are quite a number of women who have thick beard and mustache hair; some women have them on their chins, on both black and white people. I don't know why, but... it seems quite common here.

They serve Sweet Potatoes with Pineapple, cinnamon and sugar sometimes. It takes pretty good and I like it. 

It is still very hot and humid here, and it is October. 

People in the south are big on collards, and crapes. I still haven't had a crape yet. 

... 

I love my mission. I love being able to teach people about the gospel and I am so grateful for this opportunity to do so. 

-Sister Marshall 

Photos from the Week of Oct General Conference

Death, Endurance, General Conference, Doodles

This week seemed pretty great. We had the car, we put a lot of effort in our visits, and we tried to bring as many people to the gospel as we could. 

The Morehead Area is pretty stubborn. Since this area is so small, a lot of the people here have been contacted. It seems that the more we stop by, the more we push people away. This could be the reason why a lot of people are not progressing. 

 

We saw Cynthia, a less-active, and we helped her with yard work. We scooped out a lot of rocks on the side of her yard and we put them in a wheel barrel. 

We saw Connie, and she is a former. She has taken the lessons before with the missionaries, but she wasn't able to make any commitments; she lost her desire in the past. She does believe in the Book of Mormon, but she is not willing to apply it, according to what I understand. She believes in going to the same church she grew up with, and she is just a few blocks away from her church.

We saw Patt this week; she is a less-active, and has been for several years. She is also a convert to the church and since she has been converted, she has family pulling her down, telling her that the thing she believes goes against her family's beliefs. She has a boyfriend that is not a member, and he has been trying to prove the church wrong. Her brother had given her a Muslim Bible to read out of Curiosity. Patt told us that the faith believes in killing, and the more they kill, the more the reward. I felt a negative feeling when I entered into her apartment; I believe it was that book. We told her that we can only serve one master, and how we can Serve God, or Mammon, but not both. I shared with her that quote from Holland about how we already know the outcome, and the battle has already been won between God and Satan. Yet, we are still on earth, trying to decide which jersey to wear.

We met with a guy named Kenny during the Walk and Talk on Saturday last week, and we met up with him last Wednesday. He was in the process of moving and we asked him if he needed any help. He told us that he would call us if he did. We stopped by Saturday evening, and he said he had to get out of his place by 12 pm on Sunday. We told him how our message can greatly benefit his life and he may find that peace that he needs. 

A lot of appointments have cancelled on us this week. 

Friday was Zone meeting; it was a good meeting, and I got to see my old companion again, Sister Mahler. The focus of the meeting was the importance of having a lesson with a Less-active or investigator in a Member's home. By doing this, the investigators can feel the spirit, and they can see the difference when the gospel is applied to Family life and what it can do for each family member. This also gives the member an opportunity to share their testimony on the gospel and how it has truly changed their life. Our Stake President wants about 81 member-home lessons taught by... the end of this transfer I believe, with the Kinston stake. It is so hard to get an investigator in a member home, especially a first lesson! I don't know how comfortable that is for someone who has barely met with the missionaries, but I bet it is extremely uncomfortable. Regardless, my companion and I must try. 

Before the Zone meeting, though, I was told by Sister Mahler that Rachel Price passed away and the Funeral was being held at the New Bern Ward, during the same time that Zone Meeting was being held in Havlock. She told me that Rachel had surgery on her foot on Monday and things were not going well. She told me it was her time to go, and she was not getting any better.  That was the worst news I've heard since I've been out on my mission. Sister Bowen and I would see Rachel once or twice a week on Average during a 12 week period. We would share scriptures with her, read with her, and comfort her when she needed comfort. I love Rachel dearly and I will miss her. She died at the age of 59. Sister Bowen loves Rachel. This is going to be hard for everyone who knew her. 

General Conference was on Saturday and Sunday. I am glad that I brought questions to conference. A lot of my questions were answered. It is quite a different experience when I am a missionary. When the authorities talked about Missionaries and Missionary Work, it all made sense. Everything that was said, I needed to hear.

I was told for most of my life that there is something to get out of general conference, like we get to 'pick' and choose what we want to apply to our lives. Sometimes a particular talk may stand out to us, and not to others. Now that I am a missionary, I don't see any picking or choosing. I see that every single talk applies to me, to my family, to my investigators, to all the members of the church, and that nothing should be left out. I was thinking of my investigators, and how the talks can help them in their life; I was thinking on what the focus was for this conference, and how they focused a lot on The Prophet, the Apostles, their duty in the church, the importance of a Latter-day Prophet. They also focused on Family Home Evening and the importance of spending time with our families in a world where family values are declining. They also focused on how God's law does not change. It's similar to a statement said by John Bytheway where some people do not like the law of Gravity. Someone may take that to congress and they may go against that law, say, [writing a law to have things float]; regardless of what has been written, congress cannot go against the law that has been in place since the beginning. The Law of Gravity is still in place.  

...

One of the elders, Elder Benedict, is leaving and I got to draw in his book of drawings; A lot of missionaries have drawn in his book. It is cool to see how many missionaries have this talent. 

...

Oh! Another thing! It has been told to me that the missionaries on earth were chosen before they were born. That is very comforting to me to know that God has chosen me to spread the gospel to his children. I also feel like I cannot have fear, and I cannot doubt. I must do what the Lord wants me to do.

This is all I can write for now! 

I love you all!

-Sister Marshall